Teacher Loses Job, Pay Over Sex Charges

Reading Teacher Accused Of Sex With 14-Year-Old

POSTED: Thursday, July 15, 2004

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- A Tampa teacher has been suspended without pay after gaining national notoriety when a 14-year-old said she had sex with him.

Provocative Teacher Pictures Surface

The Hillsborough County School Board decided unanimously Tuesday to suspend reading teacher Debra Beasley LaFave.

LeFave, 23, is a newlywed who is accused of having intercourse with and performing oral sex on a 14-year-old student at Greco Middle School several times in varied locations, sometimes in the presence of another teen.

LeFave is out on bond, after being charged with lewd and lascivious battery.

Temple Terrace police said that LaFave was arrested at her home after the 14-year-old boy told his mother the allegations. LaFave was reportedly never the boy's teacher.

LeFave, a 2002 graduate of the University of South Florida, was married 11 months ago.

She is charged with lewd and lascivious battery and could face up to 30 years in prison.

School officials have said even if she is found not guilty, LeFave may still not get her job back.

Previous Stories:

July 1, 2004: Provocative Pictures Of Sex-Arrest Teacher Surface

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